Opening up access to Cleveland's lakefront requires re-imagining how to use the space -- a priority topic for the editorial board, but one that's also drawn inspiration from online comments.Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer

It's been a little more than a month since the Northeast Ohio
Media Group, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer launched our expanded opinion
content with far bigger Forum sections three days a week, at least a page of
opinion content every day and more online opinion features.

The
added space has allowed us to double and sometimes treble local content in the
form of letters and community op-eds. It's enabled us to begin new
conversations with readers through our Editorial Board Roundtable posted midday
at cleveland.com/opinion -- individual board members' personal takes on hot
issues, amplified by your comments.

We're
trying to illuminate the challenges and delights of living in this region
through blogs such as our new From the Trenches blog focused on urban
life.

But
we're not done. We want to make our opinion content online and in The Plain
Dealer more welcoming, inclusive places for dialogue and discussion -- and to
provide easier ways for readers to put their priorities and thoughts before our
editorial board.

That
means we want to hear from more of you and a greater diversity of readers, and
we welcome your thoughts on ways you'd like us to do that.

This
week, we begin an experiment in Tweets to the Editor, for those who'd rather
communicate their opinions in 140 characters than in a formal letter to the
editor. Use the hashtag #NEOMGletters for tweets and for videos posted on
Instagram.

We'd
prefer to know your actual name and contact number, not just your Twitter
handle, but if you'd prefer not to share those, please let us know (in a second
Tweet) and the reasons for that as we test the waters for this type of opinion
submission.

You can
still submit video letters to the editor, an option that we want to promote
more heavily in the era of cool new ways to produce video content. To upload your
video, click the "Videos" link at the bottom of the cleveland.com
homepage, select letters to the editor, and follow the prompts as before. Be
sure to send a separate email to letters@plaind.com with your contact
information for verification purposes.

With an
impressive stable of regular letter writers, we're exploring ways to feature
the best of the best online. We will be doing more to elicit political
give-and-take from elected officials, especially in this local election season.

We
also plan to feature "in action" our lively and unusually diverse
editorial board (those who've read our Roundtables know what I mean) with
livestreams and video discussions. Those will start soon.

Yet
that doesn't mean we've abandoned the traditional ways you can get your
thoughts, concerns and priorities before our editorial board.

We
continue to host editorial board meetings for community leaders and activists.
These meetings are designed to get under the skin of the news and are attended
by key members of the editorial board and reporting staff. The best way to
request an editorial board meeting is via email to me at
esullivan@cleveland.com

We will
continue to endorse in political contests, including judicial and mayoral races
and Cleveland City Council races this year. If there's a particularly
controversial issue in your community that's on the ballot this November, we
want to know.

We hope
you will keep your letters to the editor and your "From the
community" opinion articles coming. We hear from about 35 of you every
day, but we'd like to double that. You can submit letters online here or mail them to Letters to the
Editor, 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland OH 44114. You can also fax your letters
to 216-999-6323.

One
antidote to some of those toxic, unsigned comments online are letters and
op-eds from real people who stand behind their views with their actual names.
Our readers have been particularly eloquent in recent weeks on Syria --
expressing a range of views, although the overwhelming number oppose military
involvement. Read them on the letters blog atblog.cleveland.com/letters/index.html

Not all
anonymous comments are toxic. Our recent editorial on progress in waterfront development attracted
a large number of thoughtful comments with constructive ideas for how to move
these projects forward -- and avoid obvious pitfalls, like loss of green space
or waterfront access. We read those comments and they help shape our editorial
position, so keep them coming.

But our
most worthy opinion commenters might just be those who always have a reasoned
thought and corrective for those whose ideological excesses or drive to
belittle others carry them away. Still, if you think an opinion blog has really
gotten out of hand, email me right away and let me know.

The
decision to expand our opinion content with the launch of the Northeast Ohio
Media Group last month and a revamped Plain Dealer was a real affirmation of
our belief in the future of Cleveland and the power of change. We want to stay
the most relevant, fun, stimulating, influential forum for discussion and
action. We want to mobilize as well as ruminate. We want to craft an editorial
agenda for action that truly reflects our changing community and its
priorities.

If you
have an editorial waiting to be written on an issue of importance for the
community, or an idea on how we can do things better with our opinion content
or a novel way to solve problems, we want to hear from you.

My
email door is always open at esullivan@cleveland.com and so, usually, is my
cellphone at 216-316-6976. Don't hesitate to get in touch. I look forward to
continuing the conversation.

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